Plus, Oberto may be up for sale, and Loulay and Rover's alum Rob Sevcik gets his own place.

Openings

Mad Science Ice Cream PartyCloud Nine Creamery, the liquid-nitrogen ice cream shop, is set to open at the Southcenter Mall today (February 16). Head on over at noon to witness the ribbon cutting ceremony, as well as your chance to be one of nine recipients of the golden ticket free year of ice cream. Eater Seattle has more.

House of Soda The former owners of now-defunct Piccolo in Maple Leaf will open a new spot in the old Homegrown location on Fremont Ave. Esters Enoteca is shaping up to be the great place to grab an ice cold beer and a quick Panini. Not a beer drinker? Check out one of their housemade sodas orrefreshing wine selection.

Announcements

New Restaurants at Sea-Tac AirportThe Port of Seattle released the latest round of approved dining and retail destined for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Get ready for Skillet, Monica Dimas’s excellent fried chicken sandwiches, a market and bar curated by Thierry Rautureau, and more.

General Porpoise Doughnuts 2.0Renee Erickson's custard and cream-filled doughnut shop is planning a second location at First and Jackson St. in Pioneer Square. Opening is slated for late March; stay tuned for more details.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Roux's Last StandNew Orleans-style favorite, Restaurant Roux celebrated its last Mardi Gras on Tuesday. After four years of bayou-worthy hospitality and mouthwatering jambalaya, chef Matthew Lewis will close up shop once and for all after this Sunday's brunch service. Head on over Fremont and give Roux a proper Seattle sendoff. New owners are yet to be announced.

Pizza Pivot Pizzeria 88 on Capitol Hill is temporarily closed for business to rebrand. The company released a statement via Twitter saying it will pivot to a new concept to combat Seattle’s rising cost of doing business. We’re not entirely sure what that means. But here’s to hoping they get back on their pizza-making toes as soon as possible.

Recommended Reading

And the Award Goes To...The James Beard Foundation, arbiter of the country's most prestigious culinary awards, announced their list of Seattle semifinalists this morning. Our region fielded an impressive amount of chefs in the national categories, and some new names surfaced among the contenders for Best Chef Northwest.

A Brief History of Food PhotographyFood is one of those things that words alone can never quite do justice. Like sex or death, it evades creative capture through a single medium. To taste and to hold. To smell and to be enveloped by, food is beyond words. This Food and Wine dialogue between celebrity-chef Andrew Zimmerman, photographer Christina Holmes, and chef Camille Becerra, explores the evolution of food photography and what purpose it serves in the social media age.